Divorced grandparents' perceptions of the nature of their relationship with grandchildren

Abstract

Scope and Method of Study: The purpose of this study was to determine if the relationship between ever divorced grandparents and their grandchildren was different than the relationship between never divorced grandparents and their grandchildren and if so to describe these characteristics. Participants in this study were 101 grandparents who had grandchildren in the 12-18 year old range. Forty of the grandparents were ever divorced and 61 grandparents were ever married and never divorced. Grandparents were given a 26 question survey to identify level of saliency, frequency of contact and shared activities, level of relationship quality, and time spent in traditional grandparenting roles. One way ANOVA and a t-test were used to assess the six hypotheses. Multiple regression was used as an additional analysis to determine the degree of relationship between demographic variables and dependent variables.

Findings and Conclusions: The saliency of the grandparent grandchild relationship, frequency of contact and shared activities, and time spent in traditional grandparenting roles did not significantly differ between ever divorced and ever-married grandparents. With level of relationship quality ever divorced grandmothers had significantly higher relationship quality with their grandchildren than did ever divorced grandfathers. Relationship quality was also impacted by the strength of the parent-grandparent bond which strengthened the grandparent grandchild relationship. Additional analyses of demographic factors suggested that geographic distance was negatively related to the relationship quality, frequency of contact and shared activities, and time spent in traditional grandparenting roles negatively. Families and educators need to address the issue of grandparents divorcing and the impact this will have on families.